Rows of Jeep Grand Cherokees are lined up outside the Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit.
Plaintiffs suing Chrysler over its “clean diesel” engines may pursue racketeering claims, according to a federal judge’s ruling.
In a decision on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen refused to dismiss the multidistrict litigation in the Northern District of California, concluding that plaintiffs who had purchased Chrysler’s Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs and Dodge Ram 1500 pickups with “EcoDiesel” engines could pursue claims under the U.S. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. In particular, he found that plaintiffs had alleged sufficient facts that Fiat Chrysler AV and parts supplier Robert Bosch GmbH had conspired to fraud regulators about their “clean diesel” vehicles, for which consumers then overpaid.
